FROM ONE-OFFS TO EMPLOYEE TENDER OFFERS
In Silicon Valley, a tender offer that allows longtime employees at high-performing startups to get some liquidity is fast becoming an expected benefit. While secondary stock sales have always been possible, their popularity—and legitimacy—has soared in the past 10 years as successful companies put off IPOs in favor of staying private.
What are the origins of secondary sales?
Prior to the financial crisis in 2008, there wasn’t a huge need for stockholder liquidity in the private market. Companies would typically IPO before many of their employees had fully veste